Knowledge Translation Methods and Tools for Public Health

Knowledge Translation

As defined by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), knowledge translation is defined as a dynamic and iterative process that includes synthesis, dissemination, exchange and ethically-sound application of knowledge to provide more effective health services and products, strengthen the health care system and improve the health of Canadians.

The Registry’s inventory of methods and tools supports the planning, doing and evaluating of public health policies and practices across all four types of knowledge translation activities.

Methods and Tools

A method is a process or series of steps to organize a knowledge translation activity, for example, a framework to create a dissemination plan. A tool is a product or instrument to carry out the steps of a knowledge translation activity, for example, a checklist for your dissemination plan.

The Registry identifies and describes methods and tools in summary statements, and then provides links to their sources. The summaries help busy practitioners find and use these methods and tools to enable evidence use in their practice.

Purpose

Public health practitioners can use methods and tools in the Registry to:

communicate new knowledge to clients and colleagues;

support innovation uptake in their organization;

synthesize and appraise public health related research;

apply new techniques for working with community partners; and

summarize relevant evidence for public health policy decisions.

History of the Registry

The Registry was launched in 2007. An initial search for resources was conducted in 2006, covering relevant knowledge translation resources from 1985 to 2006. A second search was conducted in 2011 for literature from 2007 to 2010

Resources considered for the Registry undergo a prioritization review process. Once accepted for inclusion, the reviewer writes the Registry resource summary statement for the NCCMT’s website. A second reviewer independently reviews and verifies the content of the Registry summary statement. Registry summary statements are also reviewed by the developer prior to website posting to ensure accuracy.